Package forming device

ABSTRACT

A device for forming containers into prismatic packages and thereafter to convey and discharge them utilizing a plurality of U-shaped trays mounted at intervals on an intermittently moving conveyor and is passed by the conveyor between two movable lateral mold plates and under an upper mold plate to form the package molding station, the container being pressed against the upper mold plate by rendering the conveyor vertically oscillatable around a pivot away from the molding station.

United States Patent 1191 Dominici Dec. 31, 1974 PACKAGE FORMING DEVICE2,481,611 9/1949 Moore 53/124 A x Inventor: Antonio Dominici, 8 Via gg3,488,915 1} 1970 Delestatius 53/124 R X d Andreotto Perugla ItalyPrimary Examiner-Travis S. McGehee [22] Filed; Feb, 7, 1974 AssistantExaminer-Horace M. Culver N pp NO: 440,542 Attorney, Agent, or Ftrmrowdy and eimark [57] I ABSTRACT [30] Foreign Application Priority DataA device for forming containers into prismatic pack- Feb. 13, 1973 ltaly48212/73 g and h r fter o convey nd discharge them utilizing a pluralityof U-shaped trays mounted at inter- [52] US. Cl. 53/124 A, 53/182 alS onan intermittently moving conveyor and is [51] Int. Cl .l B65b l/24passed by the conveyor between two movable lateral [58] Field of Search53/124 R, 124 A, 182 m ld plates n under an upper mold plate to form thepackage molding station, the container being [56] References Citedpressed against the upper mold plate by rendering the UNITED STATESPATENTS conveyor vertically oscillatable around a pivot away 724,2303/1903 Wyman 53/124 A the moldmg 2,257,777 10/1941 Anderson 53/ 124 A 5Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED 1974 9. 857, 223

' sum 1 or 2 1 PACKAGE FORMING DEVICE Packaging machines which processweb-shaped packaging material into satchets or bags which are alreadyfilled with an article are known per se. They firstly convert the webinto a tube, either by folding the web lengthwise and sealing itsmargins together or by sealing together the margins of two webs,thereafter they fill the tube so formed and divide its contents bytransversal seals. In this way, from'said packaging machines a chain ofsatchetlike containers will issue, which are interconnected by saidtransversal seals. By severing these seals lengthwise along theircenterline, the satchets are divided into distinct containers, whereinthe upper half of each transversal seal forms the lower sealing seam ofone container and the lower half of each transversal seal forms theupper seam of the successive one.

To confer to them a better appearance and for a greater ease of handlingand shipping them, these satchets are molded into a prismatic shape. Forthis purpose, the webs of packaging material are precreased and aftertheir issue from the packaging machine the satchets are passed through aforming machine, where they are given the desired shape by folding theirwalls along the precreased lines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The forming machines hitherto known are verycomplex and must be combined with other equipment which conveys anddischarges the formed containers for further handling. It is thereforethe object of the invention to provide a container molding device, whichis extremely simple of construction, is comparatively inexpensive andcombines its molding function with that of conveying and discharging theformed containers. According to the'invention, a plurality of U-shapedtrays is mounted at intervals on an intermittently moving conveyor, eachtray forming the bottom, the front and the rear wall (as seen in thesense of its movement) of a prismatic mold and is passed by saidconveyor between two movable lateral mold plates and under an upper moldplate, said three plates forming a package molding station.

The packages are fed in succession, one by one, into each tray eitherwhen it reaches the molding station or upstream of it, while means areprovided to stop the conveyor while the container is being shaped into aprismatic package in the molding station and to move a successive trayinto said station once this operation is completed on the precedingtray. In this manner, the trays form not only three walls of the mold,but also serve to retain the container safely during its further traveland to safeguard it during its discharge at the end of the conveyor.

According to the invention, the upper mold plate may convenientlyconsist of two horizontally reciprocable jaws, which when opened, permitto feed through them into the underlying tray the still unformedcontainer issuing from the packaging machine and which, in their closedposition, grip the container by its upper transversal seam andsimultaneously act, with their flat bottom surfaces, as said upper moldplate. These jaws may also be conformed as cutting jaws, which maycombine their gripping action with that of severing the container in thetray from the overlying ones. According to another feature of theinvention, the movement by which the still unformed container is pressedagainst the upper mold plate is obtained by rendering the conveyorvertically oscillatable around a pivot away from the molding station,for instance around the shaft of one of its sprockets or pulleys, sothat its free end may be lifted, together with the tray in the moldingstation, to press the container in it against said jaws.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a purely illustrative and in noway limitative purpose, an embodiment of the invention will now bedescribed with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic lateral view of the embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view along the of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 to 5 are schematic partial views of the forming station of FIG.1, showing three different operating stages of the embodiment; and

FIG. 6 is a partial enlarged view of FIG. 2, with the lateral moldplates in their operating position.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference to the figures, theconveyor carrying the trays 3 comprises two endless chains 1 and 2, ledaround two pairs of sprockets 7 and 8. Each tray is U- shaped and formsabottom wall 5, a front wall 4 and a rear wall 6 (as seen in thedirection of the arrow F of FIG. 1) of a mold. The sprockets arejournaled in a common support 9 which is oscillatable around thehorizontal shaft 10 of the drive sprocket 7. A drive shaft 35', to whichis keyed a driving wheel 35 coacting with a star wheel36 (the two actingas a Geneva Drive) imparts, by means of a transmission chain 37connecting the star wheel with the sprocket 7, a step by step motion tothe conveyor, each step bringing a tray 3 into the molding station,

To impart to the conveyor the already mentioned rocking motion aroundthe shaft 10, a bar 11 is pivoted on one end by a pin 12 to the support9 in the vicinity of sprocket 8 and, on its other end, is linked to oneend of a lever 13 whose other end is pivoted, as by a pin 14, to theframe of the device. A cam follower 16 of lever 13 is pressed by a notshown spring against a cam 15 keyed to the drive shaft 35'. The satchet.molding station of the device comprises the initially mentioned two moldplates 17 and 17' and the two jaws 38 and 39, which, when closed, formthe upper mold plate. This molding station is located adjacently to thefree end of the conveyor.

To cause said lateral mold plates 17 and 17' to rise concomitantly withthe free end of the conveyor and to simultaneously convergeto laterallycompress the satchet, a second cam 34 keyed to the drive shaft 35'imparts a rocking motion to a bell crank lever 31 fulcrumed at 32 to theframe of the device. Lever 31 is connected by a link 30 to a horizontalstirrup 29, to whose ends are fastened two parallel vertical rods 26 and26 which are guided in a vertical reciprocating movement through plate22 which is rigid with the frame. Each rod 26, 26' terminates in a crossmember 25, 25' respectively. One end of each cross member is connectedby a link 24 and 24 respectively to one end of a lever 19 and 19'respectively, whose other end is pivoted at 20 and 20 respectively to astationary support 21 and 21 respectively. The other end of each dottedline 11-" cross member 25 and 25' terminates in a pin 27 and 27respectively, which engages in a curved slot 28 and 28' provided in eachstem 18 and 18' respectively of the lateral mold plates 17 and 17. Theend of each stem l8, 18' is hinged at 23 and 23 respectively to thelever 19 and 19.

Owing to this arrangement, the rocking motion induced in the bell cranklever 31 by the rotation of cam 34 will vertically reciprocate rods 26and 26, whose upward stroke will lift and simultaneously cause toconverge the mold plates 17 and 17, while their downward stroke willinvert said motion.

If the satchets are alreadysevered into distinct packages, they may befed into a tray 3 either before it reaches the mold station, orelse whenit has reached it. However, if the satchets are still connectedtogether, the preferred solution is that indicated in the figures. Themolding station of the device is here positioned just under the outletof the packaging machine, so that the lowermost satchet of a satchetchain descending from the packaging machine passes through the open jaws38 and 39 into a tray positioned in the molding station. The jaws 38 and39 are horizontally reciprocable on guides 40 and 41 from an openposition shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 to permit the passage of the satchetinto the tray, to the closed position shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, where theygrip the satchet by its upper transversal seal as shown in FIG. 4. Thisoccurs while the free end of the conveyor, together with the lateralmold plates, is in its lowermost position shown in FIG. 4. Thereafterthe conveyor is lifted by the bar 11 to its upper, horizontal position,in which the satchet 42' in the molding station is pressed against theunderside of the closed jaws 38 and 39 while its sides'are pressed bythe mold plates 17 and 17, as shown in FIG. 6, to assume the prismaticshape of the satchet 42".

As shown in FIG. 6, the height of the forming plates is smaller than theheight of the formed package, in order to leave room sufficient for theformation of the ears 51, which result from the vertical and lateralcompression of the satchet. These ears 51 may successively be folded andfastened against said sides of the formed container by any known andtherefore here not described machinery.

FIGS. 1 to also show a clamp formed by two parallel crosspieces 45 and46, which grip the tube 44 of packaging material immediately above eachtransversal seal 43. These crosspieces are carried by two pairs ofendless chains indicated at 47, 48 and 49, 50, respectively. Such clampsserve to protect the still fresh transversal seals of a satchet from thepressure of the liquid filled into the tube above it, and do not formpart of the invention. Similarly the mechanism for timing the movementof the jaws 38 and 39 with that of the conveyor and of the mold platesis within the reach of the average expert and is therefore here neitherdescribed nor claimed.

OPERATION The operating cycle of the device begins with the opening ofjaws 38 and 39, the lowering of the filled and sealed and pre-creasedsatchet 42 till it is partially received in the underlying tray 3, asshown in FIGS. 1 and 3. Thereafter the free end of the conveyor islowered to the position shown in FIG. 4, followed by the satchet tillthe upper seal 43 of the latter reaches the level of jaws 38 and 39. Atthis point the jaws are closed to grip said upper seal, while their(here not shown) cutting blade severs the satchet from the tube 44upstream of it. In the meantime the free end of the conveyor is liftedby the bar 11 against the closed jaws 38 and 39, while simultaneouslythe two lateral mold plates are raised and converged against the sidesurfaces of the satchet. Thus it is compressed from three directionsagainst the tray walls, to assume the desired prismatic shape. The endof this step is shown in FIG. 5 and the configuration of the shapedcontainer with its four ears 51, in the partial view of FIG. 6.

As soon as the above process is completed, the jaws 38 and 39 areopened, the Geneva motion will snift the tray one step .forward, tobring a successive tray into the molding station, the mold plates willbe swung back and lowered, while the conveyor will still remain in itsupper position till a successive satchet is introduced into saidsuccessive tray. Thereafter a new cycle is started.

From the above description it results clearly that the conveyor of thedevice accomplishes various tasks. In fact, it participates not only inthe forming of the packages by its rocking motion, but also in the stepby step transportation and discharge of the shaped packages. It may alsocooperate with a machine for folding and fastening the ears 51 againstthe sides of the container and with any other machine for inspecting theformed packages prior to their further handling and shipping duringtheir travel from the molding station to the end of the conveyor.

It is obvious that many changes and variations may be applied to theabove described embodiment, without departing from the scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for forming containers into prismatic packages and tothereafter convey and discharge them, said device comprising:

two lateral mold plates movable towards each other;

an upper mold plate positioned above said lateral mold plates, saidthree mold plates forming a molding station;

a plurality of U-shaped trays to receive said containers;

a vertically oscillatable and intermittently movable conveyor to leadsaid trays in succession through said molding station;

first actuating means to press a container in one of said trays againstsaid upper mold plate by lifting a free end of said conveyor;

second actuating means positively associated with said first means tolift said lateral mold plates concomitantly with said upward lifting ofthe conveyor and press them against the two sides of an unformedcontainer;

Geneva motion means associated with said first and second means, to stopsaid conveyor when a tray with an unformed container reaches thelocation of said mold plates and during said container-molding operationand remove it sucessively from said station to convey another tray tosaid molding station.

2. A device according to calim 1, wherein said conveyor has two pairs ofsprockets and said conveyor is oscillatable around a shaft of one of itssprocket pairs and said first means are a cam and lever unit linked tosaid conveyor to impart to it said oscillating motion.

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein said second means comprise twovertically reciprocable parallel rods, a lever for each rod linked withone end to said rod and pivoted with its other end to a stationarysupport, a pin on each rod and rigid with it and engaging in a curvedslot provided in a stem of each of said lateral mold plates, the end ofeach stem being hinged to said levers, whereby the upward movement ofsaid rods will lift said lateral mold plates and swing them against thesides of said container, while the downward stroke of said rods willinvert the motion of said lateral mold LII said unformed container fromthose upstream of it.

1. A device for forming containers into prismatic packages and tothereafter convey and discharge them, said device comprising: twolateral mold plates movable towards each other; an upper mold platepositioned above said lateral mold plates, said three mold platesforming a molding station; a plurality of U-shaped trays to receive saidcontainers; a vertically oscillatable and intermittently movableconveyor to lead said trays in succession through said molding station;first actuating means to press a container in one of said trays againstsaid upper mold plate by lifting a free end of said conveyor; secondactuating means positively associated with said first means to lift saidlateral mold plates concomitantly with said upward lifting of theconveyor and press them against the two sides of an unformed container;Geneva motion means associated with said first and second means, to stopsaid conveyor when a tray with an unformed container reaches thelocation of said mold plates and during said container-molding operationand remove it sucessively from said station to convey another tray tosaid molding station.
 2. A device according to calim 1, wherein saidconveyor has two pairs of sprockets and said conveyor is oscillatablearound a shaft of one of its sprocket pairs and said first means are acam and lever unit linked to said conveyor to impart to it saidoscillating motion.
 3. A device according to claim 1, wherein saidsecond means comprise two vertically reciprocable parallel rods, a leverfor each rod linked with one end to said rod and pivoted with its otherend to a stationary support, a pin on each rod and rigid with it andengaging in a curved slot provided in a stem of each of said lateralmold plates, the end of each stem being hinged to said levers, wherebythe upward movement of said rods will lift said lateral mold plates andswing them against the sides of said container, while the downwardstroke of said rods will invert the motion of said lateral mold plates.4. A device according to claim 1, wherein said upper mold platecomprises two jaws which are horizontally reciprocable from an openposition permitting the passage of an unformed container into a trayunderlying said jaws, to a closed position, wherein they form said uppermold plate.
 5. A device according to claim 4, wherein said jaws arecutting jaws, which in their closed position sever said unformedcontainer from those upstream of it.